90909
by magnifly
Summary: AU after 1.15 except Veronica got no phone call from Leanne and therefore didn't check her into rehab. Before the events of Betty and Veronica. Fairly lighthearted, eventual LoVe fic. Rare talk of Lilly's case, will mostly focus on John Enbom's 09'er case (of my creation). Basically a fluffier AU take on how season 1 Logan and Veronica got together.
1. Money Talks

**90909**

Chapter 1: Money Talks

It started when she helped Meg (then again maybe it was Luke), after they all profusely ( _falsely_ ) apologised for calling the pure as driven snow cheerleader every synonym of whore under the sun. A few would come to her here and there, asking for small favours and offering hefty payments. Things she could do in her sleep/on the computer in the privacy of her own home while she ate ice cream sundaes of questionable portion sizes and watched South Park reruns. Veronica turned down a lot of cases, stupid requests not worth her time no matter the money. She's got bigger fish to fry than the case of Shelly Pomroy's missing Rolex. Her ability to avoid the masses at large remained intact, at least until Logan and The Sunset Regent. They formed a tentative truce while she worked his mother's case. There was still sarcasm of course, insults continued to be thrown like jagged knives, though never quite aimed at the jugular anymore. Insignificant touches became common place, strangely explained away phone calls and conversations in public school hallways. Nothing to quite push her back into the 09'er fold but enough subtle changes to alter the perception of one Veronica Mars in the eyes of Neptune's most wealthy. Many (like Madison Sinclair or Caitlyn Ford) still believed that she wasn't to be touched with a 50ft pole or otherwise but to the rest, for the right price Trampy McBitch had outgrown her uselessness.

...

"Hey Ver-oni-ca." John carried the 'ca', leaning against the locker beside her in a feeble effort to get a better view of the face she was trying to hide. "I was thinking..." he continued when she didn't respond and ignored the soft snort that followed. "I know you helped Luke out." Veronica turned to look at him now, her small sliver of concentration already waning. She has a stakeout to prepare for and an important meeting with her PCH biker contact tonight. She'd rather not spend her few remaining free hours in the company of John Enbom. "And Meg." It seemed he wasn't planning on putting whatever this was to a stop despite her clear disinterest, so in the hope of hurrying him the hell up, she motioned for him to continue. "Maybe you could help me out too?"

She laughed, outright laughed in his face.

Composing herself, she looked up to meet his eyes, bag in hand and shut her locker with a thump. "No." And then she walked away.

Jogging to catch up with her as she rounded a corner to the left he said, "C'mon Veronica you don't even know what I want yet."

"Don't need to." She countered, pushing through the front doors to Neptune High, ambling for the busy parking lot.

Not wanting to be seen so close to her in public, despite the lack of animosity between her and his 09'er buddies ringleader of late, he tugged on her arm to get her to stop. Not expecting the harshness of her tone, he raised his hands in surrender when she coldly threw back "Don't touch me." He succeeded in slowing her roll at least.

"Look," he said. "I'll pay you."

"I don't want your money." Veronica turned to walk away again, tempted to break out Mr Sparky, if Mr Airline didn't leave her alone sometime soon. There's no security camera footage from the angle they're on, leaving her with plausible deniability for Clemmons.

"$800."

The number threw her, she could really use it. Tearing up Logan's check loyalty wise had been a good idea, financially after spending a week and several favours on a case with no pay off, was not so much. "$850 and travel."

"Fine."

She smiled, $850 for an 09'er case would be cake. She'd almost feel bad for robbing him blind if he wasn't, well, the son of a multimillion dollar airline mogul.

"I need you to wipe the hard drive on Ashley Banks laptop." The smile fell.

* * *

A/N: Small start chapter to get the ball rolling, I've only just started writing for Veronica Mars so bare with me while I get a feel for the characters and the way they interact. Hoping to post a longer follow up chapter in the next 24 or so hours that'll get into the nit and grit of it. Thanks for reading - H.


	2. Two guys, a girl and a yellow Xterra

Chapter 2: Two guys, a girl and a yellow Xterra

"Mackenzie, Mac-Attack, Q to my Bond. Is there any way to wipe a hard drive without getting your hands on the computer?"

Mac does nothing more than raise a dark eyebrow before answering. "I mean yeah, if I was granted remote access I could do it but the administrator would need to ok it first."

"Anything else?" Veronica asks, desperate for a different answer. A small miracle.

Mac shook her head no but continued. "I could load a virus into a USB, a Trojan horse. I'd be able to corrupt most of, if not all the files on the computer but you'd need to upload it via the USB first."

Veronica sat back against her chair a bit deflated. "New case?" Mac asked, despite the obvious answer.

Rolling her eyes and nodding yes she snarked, "Boys and their toys." before snatching up the remnants of her chicken salad sandwich and bag, scampering out of the room. "Thanks Q." She poked her head back around the computer lab doorjam and a second later, was off.

...

The fifth period bell rang between the computer lab and Veronica's locker and suddenly the only seconds earlier quiet halls turned into a jungle, luckily she spots the Pumba to her Timone coming back from the quad. Falling into step beside Wallace, Veronica is about to speak when she's interrupted by a barrage of 'Yo Wallace' and 'good game's, a few of the guys pound fists and slap each other on the back. She finds that she's smiling despite herself, happy that Wallace has found a place to fit in and something he's good at, as well as a new basis for many of her quips. Wallace is sporting a smile that she can't help but return, once sure all the guys have moved on she turns to him and asks "Do you need to jump back a bit and kiss yourself? I can wait." He laughs heartily in response and replies.

"It's not so bad here V."

She notices a vaguely familiar looking brunette approaching them. "Hi Wallace." The girl remarks, sauntering past them in a way that made Veronica's mind briefly flit to Lilly Kane.

Focussing back on the present she wonders, "Who's the hoochie?" aloud.

Turning back from where he'd been appreciatively watching the girl go he answers. "Nadine? She's in our grade. See you need to socialise more, that's your problem."

Upon reaching his locker, Wallace pulls it open in search of his fifth period bio textbook.

Leaning on the lockers beside him with books already in hand, Veronica puts on her best ditzy-blonde-in-midst-of-revelation and says "Wait? That's my problem." Tapping her index finger to her chin.

"Yeah I know, this school hasn't always been great to you."

"Which is why you're gonna help me out tonight?" She asks, in a way so specifically Veronica Mars, it's essentially impossible to say no.

Getting his books from his locker, chuckling Wallace asks "What'd ya have in mind supafly?" Moving to walk towards their class.

"Recon, case stuff, easy peasy." Veronica answers, handing him a bright orange flyer pulled from the depths of her messenger bag.

"The kind of case I can get behind." Wallace jokes, decrypting the flyer just how Veronica taught him. He'd made a quick habit of _not_ questioning her case related decisions and favours. Opting for the what you don't know can't hurt you, _or get you expelled_ method instead. But this makes the third 09'er party Veronica's crashed in under two months. Sometimes you just gotta. "You wanna go to an 09'er party V?"

"Nah." She shakes her head, rounding a corner. "I want _you_ to go to an 09'er party." He looked confused, so she stops short of their classroom, pivoting to face him and offers a slightly more detailed explanation. "I need you to ask around about Ashley Banks and John Enbom."

"Mr Airline?" She nods.

"He hired me but won't give me any details. The cornerstone of the P.I trade." Putting on her best valley girl Amber accent she adds "And your friends like you, they really like you!" Ending with a pep squad clap, making Wallace laugh.

"Alright, alright girl. I'll do it." He smiles, and she returns with one of her own. The last warning bell rings soon after, hurrying the two through the bio-lab door and to their regular seats.

...

After finding Wallace and making him promise to meet her at the apartment after basketball practice Veronica made her way towards the parking lot. The last two periods had flown by quickly and she spent most of that time thinking back on her conversation with Enbom the previous night.

 _"Ok what's on the computer?" Veronica asked, swinging her leg over the bench at her now abandoned, usual lunch table in the quad. With only janitors roaming the grounds she figured it was a safe a place to handle this 'highly sensitive' — his words, case as any._

 _"I can't tell you." Was his short, succinct reply._

 _"What_ _ **can** you tell me?" She tried again._

 _"Not a lot." John sighed, clearly frustrated. Laying his head to rest on the table._

 _It was Veronica's turn to sigh then. He looked up at her, both parties more exasperated than they ought to be._

 _"Can you do it or not Veronica?"_

 _Against her better judgement and despite her best efforts, her natural born curiosity had taken over. "I'll see what I can do."_

When she got to her car though, all plans formulating, great and small came to an abrupt halt. Two slashed tyres and loose paint chips where someone had taken a key to the passenger side door. _Neptune high, putting the delight in afternoon._ She had two options, catch a bus or call Weevil. She picked the latter, but after three rings he still hadn't picked up. _Bikers and their pesky after school schedules._ Gearing up to catch the bus and put a stop to any and all of Wallace's non-stop Nelly fantasies, Veronica grabbed her things, put the roof down on the Le'Baron and scanned the near empty parking lot for any signs of hospitable life (Mac). Upon that failure she began to walk to the nearest bus stop.

...

She hadn't been waiting long, maybe ten minutes before he showed up. He pulled into the bus bay and she would've scolded him once upon a time. The bus wasn't due to show up for another 20 minutes anyway. He'd been out of school for at least a week and a half, she hadn't seen him since the day he turned up at Mars Investigations with a check. Not that she'd been expecting him at school, he'd become a part time student at best after Lilly died. Only really attending the bare minimum classes to get him by without complete failure. Something teachers are more lenient about when your parents are the dollar signs reflected in their glazed, low income earning eyes. The thought makes her bitter and she does her best to quell it. He's had a rough go of it lately.

"Mars." He acknowledges with a nod, arm slung out of the rolled down driver's side window.

"Echolls." Veronica replies, making no move to vacate the bus bench. She's unsure how to handle their interactions after everything that went down. She's sure breaking down in her arms at the Sunset Regent hadn't been the plan and she knew he wasn't going to talk about it, but she couldn't forget. Not the way he cried, the tired sobs on the drive home in her cramped car or Trina's words before it happened (something she'd thought over, over and over again with the free time she's had since.)

"What are you doing?" He asked, tone filled with genuine curiosity and mild distaste — though she was fairly certain that was at the thought of catching a public bus in a low rent part of Neptune. She was shocked, truly by the direction of the conversation. It was the longest they'd talked without malice or tears in over a year and something about it was discombobulating.

"Y'know, seeing the sights." He rolled his eyes. "Your toadies and their tyres." She tacked on afterwards, a familiar ire rising.

"Ah, car trouble." His eyes were flat, holding next to none of the mirth and glee usually associated with the general fucking up of her life. "Hop in." He says, moving back to swing the passenger door open.

Veronica is hesitant at first. _What game is he playing at?_ In his own words helping him find Lynn hadn't been a favour, there were no friendship bracelets to be made.

Logan rolled his eyes at her indecisiveness. "Tick tock, tick tock." He commented, admiring an invisible watch, eyes following her tiny form as she reluctantly gathered her things and hauled ass into the passenger seat.

...

Faced with two options: an hour bus ride with a local bus driver she'd come to know as Sweaty Earl since Lilly died and a twenty minute car ride with her close friend-turned-arch nemesis-turned... Whatever? She chose the latter but no more than three minutes in she was getting ready to tuck and roll. Willing to do just about anything to avoid the tension building, Logan's sidelong glances too. Veronica could take on a lot of Logan's masks? Personalities? Arrogant, psychotic, friendly even but quiet and completive was an all new ball game. At least for this new Veronica.

"So..." Veronica prattled in the hope that starting a conversation (even an ugly one) would relieve some of the suffocating awkwardness. Never had the Xterra felt so small. "Surfing?" She half asked, taking notice of the rash guard he'd paired with a pair of loose fitting khaki shorts.

"Yeah." He nodded, eyes on the road. "Just got back." Unable to find anything to say, Veronica remained uncharacteristically silent. Leaving it open for him to continue. "Colour me surprised when I find _Veronica Mars_ , on the side of the road." Logan sounded more like himself with a veiled insult than he had all afternoon. She let out a sigh.

"Have you got John Enbom's number?" She queried after a silent beat. Figuring that while she was trapped, she may as well make herself useful.

"I didn't know he joined the swim team." Logan snarked. _The bitch is back._

"Soccer."

"Ah." His eyes darted between his phone and the road for a second or two before he dropped it in her lap.

 **John Enbom**

 **202-555-0164**

 **jdenbom/ /aol/com**

"Thanks." Veronica says, scribbling both number and email down in the first book she pulled from her satchel.

"Don't mention it." Logan responds.

...

With Logan semi-relaxed the pressure ebbed and the car was restored to its original, roomy size.

"Where we headed?" Logan questioned when the need for direction became evident, lest they end up at the Echolls mansion, or more realistically driving aimlessly because there wasn't a thing in hell that could take him back there until he absolutely had to. The house — if you could even call it that, wasn't a home of any sort. Merely a holding cell until legally dismissed. The tangible part to some of his worst nightmares and much less often lately, his greatest memories. _Don't question it Veronica, just go with it._

"We?" She raised an incredulous blonde brow.

 _Of course._

"We." Logan repeated. She shrugged and Logan sighed. "Aaron wants to _bond_." With a simple nod Veronica gave her consent. Thankfully not opening that can of worms. He wasn't up for it tonight, or any other night, particularly with her.

"I was _supposed to_ be on a stakeout but my car-" Veronica makes a point of twisting in her seat to smile an over the top fake saccharine sweet smile at him. "is still in the Neptune High parking lot. I just love school!" She finishes, her voice a strange mixture of totally exasperated and the ditzy blonde 'Amber' persona she wears so well. "That reminds me, I've got to tell Wallace the plans off." Serious once more, she fumbles blindly for her phone at her feet when Logan offers.

"I'll do it."

"What?" She sits up phone in hand, tucking short strands of blonde hair behind the ear closest to him.

"We can use my car." He clarifies and she laughs, caught again by the royal 'We'.

"Yellow, colour me inconspicuous." She twists his earlier words and he smirks, eyes briefly flickering between the open road and her profile.

"Alright if you'd rather ride your push bike, I've got better things to do... Is it still pink? Glitter on the sides?"

"Fine. Deal." Veronica concedes. "What do you want?" She asks because this Logan doesn't do her favours.

He takes his hand off the gear shift and presses it to his chest. "Ronnie. That hurts." He doesn't elaborate, the arrogant front she'd been troubled by not seeing earlier, returning slowly but surely and she wonders why she'd been concerned in the first place.

She scoffs but tells him to head to her dad's office. "I need to pick up some stuff before we head to the apartment." He doesn't say anything this time, only turns — heading in the familiar direction of Mars Investigations.

* * *

A/N: Italics = thoughts, flashbacks and some words in need of emphasizing. You should be able to differentiate the two but if there's any confusion let me know. / = . because we're not allowed links. Still unbeta'd. Originally this was all going to be one big chapter but I felt a natural stopping point here. This way the beach and first Wallace/V/Logan interaction scenes will be more detailed. There's probably loads of mistakes and I'll be proofreading a few times after uploading to pick up as many as I can but if you see some let me know and I'll do my best to fix it up. Also I'm Australian so to my loyal American readers my grammar and spelling will probably bother you. I'm sorry but I already have to keep up with your school system in relation to plot timelines (seriously why doesn't your school year follow the regular one? I don't understand.) and you don't use the metric system. Most of the direct quotes I pulled from the show are courtesy of vmtranscripts Thanks again for reading and to every lovely person that reviewed! It motivates me to get more done when I know others are just as eager as I am - H.


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